EILEEN MARDRES: The Unexpected

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , ,

A baby. A beginning. Exciting! Eager anticipation of the end goal: Adulthood! Every growth step welcomed.

If lucky, the journey continues, rewards received: Grandchildren! Cute and cuddly morphing into talented and fun. Finite time parenting yielding eternity of grandparent ecstasy.

Then, horrific awareness. No one prepared us. Grandchildren grow up!

Eileen was dazed when the truth was revealed. Boyfriends, girlfriends, drivers’ licenses, graduations, jobs, even marriages. Suddenly, outings and stories and sleep overs had become history, and the toys have become dust collectors.

DG BRACEY: Guilty Stew Drips from Innocent Mouths

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Down two devils dropped, under sleeping streets, conjuring the hopeless and unhoused. Their songs echo like flutes bouncing off breathing trees. Two by two the hopeless drop down through quick mud to tunnels, endless in circling knots, all leading to one lost doorstep, four opened arms, fire lashing out welcomes.

DG Bracey is a teacher and a freelance writer from the Carolina coast. He’s picked up degrees from the University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina University, and the University of North Carolina – Wilmington. He’s published short stories in various journals and been a feature writer for newspapers.

CHRIS BOWERS: Strawberry Moon

Adventure, Submissions, , ,

Love came fast. For me. For her, love was simply bait, a lure, a grift. And I, her mark.

Married in March, the Strawberry Moon revealed all, her veil removed. Now, silence, darkness, and locked doors are our love language.

I wonder what she misses more: fresh air or sunlight.

Chris Bowers lives on Earth, which is almost enough. He explores the spectrum of human emotion through fiction inspired by fleeting moments and small-town life, crafting stories that reveal the beauty, absurdity, and ache of being thoroughly, stubbornly alive.

LAKSHMAN VUDANRAO: Clean Enough

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

He began clear—hopeful, technical, sincere.
The stream once ran clean and bright.
Small pipes tapped in.
Big ones polished reports.
“Treat just enough. Speak louder.”
Audits passed.
Dead zones slowly grew.
He watched waste join the sea.
It shimmered—blue, vast, beautiful.
No one questioned it.
It looked clean enough…

Lakshman Vudanrao is the founder of a company offering innovation support services. He writes across themes of science, society, and human experience, drawing from real-world insights and personal reflections on education, relationships, and change.

ASHNI PATEL: Pressurized

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

We struggled with transplanted lives. Chefs served identical protein packs; musicians played the colony’s sole venue. Yet Mrs. Tamlyn’s etiquette school thrived. She taught us grace in pressurized suits, dignity while rationing recycled water, low-gravity choreography. She had unknowingly domesticated humanity’s last hope of escape. Civility became our cruelest addiction.

Ashni wrote this story after watching the news—Earth’s most dystopian fiction. You can find her tinkering at ashnipatel.com.

GABE BONNEY: Gen Real

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

It’s a sight to behold, that slick of teenagers commuting home from the beach. All salt-encrusted eyelashes and lobstery shoulders, screeching like a murder of crows.

Time travelling. My youth—I can almost reach out and touch it.

The train window reflects my denuded reality… but I’m still 1985 inside!

Gabe has been writing and editing for 30 years, from her home base in Sydney, Australia. She doesn’t plan on being replaced by AI any time soon.

LAUREN DENNIS: Social Circle

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

“You need to make friends,” my coworker says while vigorously pressing the elevator floor button. She never turns to see my melancholic expression.

I try explaining the enclosing weighted blanket feeling of loneliness…

She huffs, holds her hand up, cutting my words, and says,

“You just need to make friends.”

Lauren Dennis is a Sailor who lives her life like a pirate, writing spirit-fueled flash across the globe. You can follow this Charleston, South Carolina native, all her travels, and creative exploration on Instagram at @laurenwritesloud.

KATELYN JANE PONTZER: Pondering Pines

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

The copse of corpses is haunted by centuried ghosts and the ashen remnants of their skeletons. As I travel, they whisper to me in urgent gasps.

To be is to… To be is to…

I allow the whippoorwill’s song to drown out their voices, yet still I walk, pondering pines.

Katelyn Jane Pontzer is an aspiring writer from Georgia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy.

TARA L KELLEY: Heirloom Variety

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Dad’s out of town, so I’m tending the nursery—misting the little buds, tousling their leaves. I put some Mozart on, then Gordon Lightfoot, so Dad’s guitar-playing will feel familiar. On day four, he wants an update. No one’s flourishing yet, I tell him, but we’re all doing just fine.

Tara L. Kelley is just here to write.